This invention relates to a method of, and apparatus for, splicing or joining pieces of sheet material end to end without overlap. The invention has particular utility in splicing strips of rubberized cord material used in the manufacture of vehicular tires, although the invention lends itself for use with other types of self-adhesive material in sheet form as well.
As is well known, cords surrounded by rubber for protection against abrasion are now being used extensively for production of the carcasses or foundation structures of pneumatic tires. Elongate strips of such cord material are, just after the calender coating of a rubber composition thereon, cut into short lengths either biaswise or crosswise depending upon whether they are used in bias- or radial-ply tires. These short length strips of rubberized cord material are again joined end to end to form long and continuous webs, the lateral edges of which are formed by those edges of the individual short strips which have been produced by cutting the elongate strips.
For building up such continuous webs of rubberized cord material, the usual practice is to press together the butted ends of successive short strips. Unless the ends of the successive short strips are correctly butted together, however, the joints formed by subsequent application of pressure thereto will be of uneven strength, and sometimes air may be entrapped therein. No high quality tires can be produced by use of webs having such defective joints.